Imogen looked to Asha as if expecting her to intervene with her nephew. But Sage’s mother was nodding slowly at Rian to indicate that she was in agreement.
“Asha, do not be so foolish as to support this! He is clearly not himself! How do we know thewitchhas not meddled with his—” Imogen began.
Rian abruptly slammed his hands down on the table so hard that everyone jumped and gasped. But even more terrifying than his physical reaction were the shadows that burst out of his arms and shoulders to flare around him. The force of his power erupting made the ground tremble, and the air hissed and wavered with sudden heat. I knew it was dangerous when both Ciaran and Darragh tensed.
“You’ve said quiteenoughtonight concerning Nuala and her place with me. I will hear no more poison uttered in her name,” he snarled more furiously than I had ever thought to see him before.
I glanced discreetly up at Ciaran with my brows raised, and he pursed his lips without looking down at me.
Gods help Nuala…
Chapter thirty
THE ROOKERY
Ornella
Iwas not sure how long we would be gone in the Vale, but Ciaran said to pack lightly. Not that I had much aside from the clothes Asha had brought me from Sage’s trunk, Amira’s letter, and everything Ciaran gave me to train in. And of course the unwashed shirt I kept under my pillow because it still smelled of Sage. I tucked that into my pack last after checking the wool wrap, which would prevent it from mingling with other scents in my bag.
I stood and looked up at Serafin and Pyrope who were taking up almost all of the small space in the bedchamber. Both vargr gave an anxious whine that almost split open my heart, especially when I felt the faint, nagging worry down the bond from Pyrope.
“I will come back,” I swore, stepping forward to lean my head on hers. “Thank you for being my lifeline.”
The purest gratitude and devotion poured into me in warm and gentle waves that threatened to break my heart all over again, but they also made me feel invincible.
I pulled back from Pyrope and turned to Serafin whose purple eyes still made me catch my breath.
“I will be back,” I whispered to him fiercely.
Serafin flattened his ears as if he felt the ferocity of my declaration and mirrored it. Then he stepped forward and rubbed his head all over me from shoulder to thigh.
With my goodbyes said, I passed through the curtains into the main room of the tent where Nuala knelt folding the sheets from the cot she made every night by the fire. Éadrom lay beside her as usual, and he raised his head to watch me with Rian’s striking emerald eyes.
“I would invite you to use the bedchamber while I am gone but…” I trailed off with a wince.
“But you do not want my scent in there,” she finished with a smile that, like all her smiles of late, failed to truly reach her mismatching eyes. “I prefer it by the fire.”
“Are you sure you are going to be alright?” I asked her tentatively, since it seemed like something Sage or Ciaran would have inquired about.
I had been relying heavily on what social graces I had learned from the aes sídhe males in order to navigate this new living situation with Nuala. She had been subdued, which was honestly a relief, although I couldn’t help the feeling that I was failing her somehow. I absolutely hated it when people pried into my personal affairs, so I told myself I was just respecting her privacy. Even if I knew respecting people’s privacy would not normally stop me from prying. No, the truth was that I was hesitant to open up any heartfelt communication because I knew it would probably require me to divulge my own struggles as well. And that was not something I was willing to do. So while living together had forced us to become comfortable in one another’s company, we were not exactly friendly.
“Yes. I have my own mission,” Nuala revealed softly. “Rian will come soon after you and Ciaran leave.”
“Oh,” I uttered in surprise. I had not thought either of them had even sought out the other since he’d denounced her in the war tent. “You should have seen him last night when he defended you with the Sua!” I smirked.
I had no idea why I wanted her to know he had spoken out so passionately on her behalf. Aside from perhaps the foolish hope that they could still work things out.
I had been unsure how I should feel about Nuala using Rian’s incredibly terrifying power at first. But after seeing him wield it the night before, it occurred to me that she frightened me less. Even when she was using it to murder another fey, the magic had felt so much less chaotic in her hands somehow. More controlled.
“Do not mistake his jealous protection for affection,” Nuala insisted with her eyes on the fire between us.
Right. Ciaran had said something similar about how Rian could want to keep her close and protected without giving her any genuine love.
“Is that why you didn’t tell him right away?” I asked, too curious not to pry now that there would be distance between us soon. “You knew he would pull away?”
She wavered as she folded the last blanket and stacked them all on her pillow before she raised her eyes to me.
“I had hoped for him to come to the conclusion on his own first that he… wanted me.”
